A conventional combustible gas turbine engine includes a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine. The compressor compresses air that enters an annular inlet. The combustor combines the compressed air with a fuel and ignites the mixture creating combustion products defining a working gas. The working gas travels to the turbine. Within the turbine are a series of rows of stationary vanes and rotating blades. Each pair of rows of vanes and blades is called a stage. Typically, there are four stages in a turbine. The rotating blades are coupled to a shaft and disc assembly. As the working gas expands through the turbine, the working gas causes the blades, and therefore the shaft and disc assembly, to rotate. The rotating shaft extends into and through the compressor upstream of the turbine and combustor.
In a number of industrial gas turbines, a compressor inlet case (CIC) comprises radially-spaced inlet struts, which are attached across inner and outer walls of the CIC, wherein the inner wall supports the rotating shaft extending through the compressor (i.e., rotor). While the inlet struts provide the required structural load bearing, the presence of these inlet struts causes the overall axial length of the compressor to be extended, which increases costs. Further, the inlet struts interfere with the flow of air moving through an upstream section of the compressor, i.e., causes radial and circumferential flow distortions. These air flow distortions impact a first stage of rotating blades in the compressor. Thus, the rotating blades have to be designed to not be susceptible to damage due to any resonant frequency in the design induced by these flow distortions, which can be detrimental to optimum performance of the rotating blade.